He said sequestration will touch everyone to a greater or lesser degree.

This will take something in the way of 30 to 60 days to play out as agencies decide whether or not to provide furlough notices and when they will do that, Mr. Owens said.

That will also be the time frame when people affected by service reductions notice the pinch and get in touch with their federal representatives.

In my view there are a lot of people in Congress who do not believe the impact will be as great as the president says, Mr. Owens said. If it is, they will be pressured into acting.

But he cautioned that the March 27 deadline for the continuing resolution will not necessarily stop sequestration.

The continuing resolution could in fact say that were going to continue funding at the sequestration levels, Mr. Owens said.

He warned that cuts to Fort Drum, prisons, border patrol, hospitals and schools could have a serious impact on the north country economy.

If you take Fort Drum, they are looking at a furlough of 20 percent. It will also roll out into the local economy, he said.

According to figures from the White House, New York state stands to lose $42.7 million in federal primary and secondary education funding, $36.3 million in funding for children with disabilities and $12.8 million for clean air and water protection. The state also will lose about $60.9 million in pay for civilian Department of Defense employees, and Army-base funding will be cut by $108 million. New York also will lose $780,000 in justice assistance grants for crime prevention and public safety.

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